Air mail/customs

[paddy_36]

Hope this is the right category for this one...

I'd like to send a bottle of whisky over to Brazil as a gift. It will go in a small packet (max. weight 2 kgs) by Air Mail with whisky declared on customs label and Gift box ticked. I believe you can send alcohol abroad as long as it is less than 70% - is that correct? My main question is will it be liable for any customs/excise charges, and at what point would I pay the charges? I obviously don't want the recipient to have to pick up the bill.

Hope someone can advise. Thanks.

[dzug]

Whether it is liable for any customs/excise charges is up to the Brazilian authorities. I'd say it probably is though - few countries will allow any unaccompanied alcohol in duty free.

I don't see any way that you could pay them - they won't be assessed until it gets there and will be collected from the recipient by the Brazilian post office.

[Trotbot]

By Air Mail the recipient is the legal importer into Brazil and you have no controller over the payment. Courier companies (Fedex, DHL, UPS) offer a door to door service so the package would be delivered by their employees even if Customs charged duty (by Air Mail it may get stuck at the airport and your friend might need to go and collect it). You may be able to arrange for all charges to be to your account.

If you do this, be prepared for the cost (courier plus duty) to be a multiple of the whisky, and to have no control over the duty assessment in Brazil. From limited experience of Brazilian indirect taxes, they are complex, inter-dependent and difficult to identify in advance. For example, cigarettes are subject to five different taxes.